How Nixon Expanded Fannie Mae’s Footprint

Adapted from “The Fateful History of Fannie Mae,” by James R. Hagerty, published Sept. 4 by History Press. This is the third of four blog posts based on the book.

In a maneuver to get Fannie Mae’s debt off the government’s books, President Lyndon Johnson in 1968 signed legislation transforming the mortgage agency into a company owned by private shareholders. Before the two-year transition to private ownership was completed, President Richard Nixon won the 1968 presidential election.

A Republican administration might be expected to welcome the demise of even a small piece of the federal bureaucracy. But the Nixon administration proved reluctant to let go: Mr. Nixon’s aides saw one last chance to install a friend in the top job at Fannie, a provider of funding for home mortgages.